University of Minnesota Athletics
Spencer, Steenvoorden Make Finals Again
8/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Aug. 7, 2011
Haley Spencer narrowly missed a title in the 200-meter breaststroke at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships on Saturday. The 2011 NCAA champion in the 200-yard breast finished in 2 minutes, 27.09 seconds, just .03 seconds behind Micah Lawrence.
Spencer was seeded second heading into finals after posting a time of 2:28.38 in preliminary heats. In the final, she made a strong push at the end, but Lawrence touched the wall just before her. Former Golden Gopher Keri Hehn also competed in the finals session, finishing 15th overall (2:30.75).
Spencer was not the only Minnesota swimmer to compete in an 'A' final Saturday night. Ashley Steenvoorden, who won the 400-meter freestyle, finished fifth in the 800 free (8:36.83). She went into the race seeded first (8:32.36).
Another Gopher racing in an evening session was Tess Behrens. She won a swim-off on Friday to make the 'B' final in the 200 back, and finished 20th overall (2:16.71) that night.
Other Gopher competitors during the final two days of nationals included Lissa Tommerdahl (26th), Kristen Steenvoorden (52nd), and Loren Brandon (76th) in the 800 free; Molly Belk (61st) and Annalise Colton (90th) in the 200 fly; signee Tori Simenec (69th) in the 100 free; and Hannah Whitehead (106th) in the 200 back. Minnesota's 13th-place 4x100 medley relay team was comprised of Behrens, Spencer, Colton, and Whitehead.
